The Last Chapter of bookbook: A Greenwich Village Institution Closes

New York is no longer the unique place it was even when it was on its uppers in the 1970s. Instead of specialty stores, even the West Village appears filled with the merchants one can find at any mall. Luxury means expensive, not unique. Literacy is vanishing, as are bookstores at a place not simply to buy books but to exchange ideas face-to-face. Dickens's line that begins "A Tale of Two Cities" is prescient on many levels. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

One cold night around 2004, I was walking my Bloodhound Nash (pictured) on West Street, near Horatio (where we live), when he began pulling on the leash with an unusual determination. I could tell he wanted to go Somewhere. I had twenty years' experience working with Hounds, and this was very unusual. He continued to lead me, making a right turn on Hudson Street, continually feeding my curiosity; I had no clue where he could possibly be taking me. He brought me straight to the door of the Biography Bookshop, where someone had given him a treat the week before. Needless to say, he received another treat that night.

So many bookstores have closed in the Village that I've lost count. I used to make a circuit starting at Stephen's Book Service on Third Avenue (a store devoted exclusively to science fiction/fantasy), then a dozen stores on 4th Avenue, then called Book Row—Schulte's, Biblo & Tannen, numerous others. Also 8th Street Books, the Paperback Gallery on Third Avenue and 8th Street—first store to offer only paperbacks—then numerous stores on Seventh Avenue and also Bleecker Street. All gone now. So although I never shopped at bookbook, I can, to use a shopworn phrase, feel the pain of those sad at its closing.

This, unfortunately, is just another manifestation of the mall-ification of the Village in particular, and Manhattan in general. The independent, interesting shops are being driven out by the national chains that can afford the high rents. Who wants to go to New York to go to Sephora or Anthropologie when they have exactly the same merchandise as they do in the mall at home? Sadly, New York no longer has character.

Correction: Bookbook's rent was being hiked not just that they needed a rent reduction to go on. See https://www.6sqft.com/village-bookshop-bookbook-closing-in-may-owners-planning-pop-ups/ How much is NY's media a part of the public relations efforts of the most destructive group in NYC: big real estate owners, whose rent hikes have driven countless stores out of business. I live in Greenwich Village for 19 years and watched as many restaurants were forced to close or move by their rent being doubled, tripled and even quadrupled. When an honest history of Greenwich Village is written it will show how much landlord greed undermined the culture and lives of residents.

As wonderful as these old NY bookstores were, especially Gotham, they were mostly inaccessible to book lovers outside of the city. Many people now don't read very much, but those who do read and/or collect (beyond best sellers or self help books)can now enjoy browsing experiences and discoveries far beyond what was ever available in brick and mortar bookstores. Every day I get emails reflecting my search preferences offering dozens of books on anything I want, and of course my willpower is too weak to resist much of the time. I'm even starting to recognize the names of the book people behind a few of the online book vendors. I can snap up a special bargain or rarely seen item wherever there is internet, and for my purposes the photos are not that different from touching the book itself. Don't get me wrong. I miss these places as much or more than anyone, but like New York City itself there is always something new and exciting right around the corner. "Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."

I lived in the West Village for 17 years through the 90s and 2000s. I patronized the Biography Book ship at its original location often. There were so many unique shops on Bleecker Street, including Kim’s video, the record store ( forgot the name) the old Italian bakery (Vito’s?) and a good old fashioned hardware store. All gone and taken over by high end fashion stores which closed and left behind vacant storefronts. I occasionally visit the old hood and it’s totally lost it’s soul, so depressing to see.

Not that this is not newsworthy, just that it's a repeat of the same old story, over and over, local neighborhood bookstore/laundry/hardware/whatever closes down, NYC loses a little more of that magic it has lost so much of over the last 20 or so years. I suppose maybe this is societal evolution but I'm glad I was able to wander the streets of The City and enjoy these places. I hope my kids and their generation find other aspects of this city to enjoy. It remains The Greatest City in the World but methinks it's hold is becoming precarious.

As increasingly ultra -expensive high-rise buildings appear in Manhattan, the neighborhoods at street level die. Coincidence? No.

Greenwich Village now resembles Greenwich Connecticut in population...lots of bankers and lawyers. No more laundromats,fruit stores or hardware stores,lots of empty storefronts or boutiques that are useless to those of us with less dollars. Bohemia long gone, along with books. Welcome to the new heartless city.

As a former denizen of Manhattan, I recall having visited Biography Books during times wandering the West Village. Also loved Gotham Book Mart among others, and frequented Shakespeare & Co. on the upper west side. I continue to visit independent bookstores in various places I visit and still buy books. Worked in a used bookstore in Santa Barbara as an undergraduate, and fortunately it still exists; whether the same camaraderie and sharing in exploration and discovery exists, I can’t say. Browsing online, while essential nowadays, is no substitute for the social aspects of browsing a favorite bookstore.

With each independent book store that closes my heart aches a little more. We have several independent book stores nearby in the Pacific Northwest, Elliot Bay Books, Queen Anne Books, Third Place Books and my favorite, Village Books in Bellingham, WA. There are a few others but these are the ones I frequent. Perhaps, we are headed towards the end of book stores as we have known and loved them. But go to Powell’s Books in Portland, OR, and it’s full of people, of all ages. Long live the neighborhood book store!

I've never been to bookbood but wish I had! We still have a great used bookstore, Chamblins, in our area, but the chain bookstores are closing or have closed. I do have a kindle and use it (mainly because I can increase the font size to "fit" my poor eyesight!) but I miss browsing in bookstores and finding new, unexpected things. Too bad they can't sell it to another book lover and get the rent reduced! :--(

Old enough to remember way over half a dozen bookstores in the Village. Each one's demise was sad. I actually didn't realize that the Biography Bookshop had morphed into Bookbook. Passing through the area one day, I thought, Gee, where is Biography Bookshop? and then, Well, thank heavens there's this nice Bookbook place anyway. And yes, I am pretty sure I bought my godson "The Power Broker" there.

What's a book?

This article reminds me to visit Politics and Prose! I was disappointed when my neighborhood Barnes and Noble was replace by an Archeologie. Although, I’ve heard they have a nice cafe. Lose / win.

I had a gift card for Bookbook that I used recently at the store. It's a sad proposition to go to a store you love because you need to use a gift card before it's gone forever.

I'm very sorry bookbook is closing. Unlike many NYC bookstores, it stocks remainders of relatively recent notable books comfortably alongside its full-price selection, meaning it offers something for all budgets. (Good luck digging those out at the Strand.) I will always remember the time the stock clerk was so pleased that I was buying the first volume of Musil's A Man Without Qualities from the markdown section--"I knew if I put it face out it would sell!" You don't often find people in NYC deeply invested in Robert Musil.

I thought about the specialness of the books that floated to the surface of one's view on bookbook's outdoor table: a children's book I enjoyed about Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a book of writing and drawings by Yoko Ono that brought delight to a now-departed friend. I also thought of the notice on the door of the now-closed Integral Yoga grocery store that had always been full of customers (like your image of Tea & Sympathy in a related article with its seats filled) saying it was no longer viable to stay open and asking for Gofundme donations to perhaps open elsewhere.

i have never set foot in the store, but Carolyn Epstein and Chuck Mullen are my kind of people- book people. Thanks for your store- it takes a lot of effort and work to run any store, but a bookstore in NYC that would be amplified many times. I wonder about a world that for all its wonder has few remaining places for bookstores. I think it is a tell about our culture and what we value. Glad you will get to travel and enjoy your hard won retirement. I will only offer one token of advice- do not go to the Grand Canyon in the summer. There are too many tourists and the heat is brutal. But do go.

An intimate, vibrant, intellectually stimulating and relaxing place to spend time. Sorry I won't be able to visit NYC before it closes. Would love to spend an afternoon there surrounded by books.